Samsung Request for New Trial Denied, Did Infringe Apple Patents, Though Unwillingly

The US Judge in charge of the case says that the infringement cannot be considered willful

Samsung denied a new trial in the US

It was only a matter of time before the next episode of the patent war between Apple and Samsung aired. Compared to others, though, this one's plot, if it can even be called that, was surprisingly ambivalent.

Samsung has been trying to get Judge Lucy Koh to approve of a retrial of the patent infringement case against Apple, after the ruling in favor of the latter, which said that many Galaxy devices used Apple technologies unlawfully.

Naturally, Samsung has been doing all it can to get the large settlement payment decision rescinded, and all bans lifted.

Unfortunately for the corporation, the US court has a very different opinion than that of the Dutch court or the UK law system.

Judge Koh has denied Samsung's request for a new trial because it “would be contrary to the interests of justice.”

She did offer a silver lining though, in the shape of an admission that Apple failed to prove that Samsung willfully infringed Apple's patents.

Samsung argues that the patents were invalid, so the infringement cannot be considered willful.

That is legal jargon for Samsung believing that it was doing nothing wrong when it built those phones and tablets.

This conclusion is far from what Samsung hoped, but it does, at least, mean Apple won't be getting its wish to increase the “damages” that its rival has to pay.

For those who've forgotten, the jury in the San Jose court, whether or not it was due to the foreman's alleged misconduct, decided that Samsung had to pay $1.049 billion / 780 million Euro, back in August 2012.

Since the ruling supposed that five of the instances of infringement were willful, and the Judge has now decided they were not, the sum may be decreased. No ruling to this effect has been given yet, however, and Apple will surely fight one with all it has.